3 held after Grande Prairie RCMP find baby and stolen truck

Baby found unhurt; tip leads to truck at lumber mill south of city

The baby was in this truck on a driveway in Grande Prairie when it was stolen Tuesday afternoon. The baby was later found on a front porch in her car seat. (RCMP)

Three people are in custody after a pickup truck containing a baby girl was stolen from a residential driveway in Grande Prairie, Alta., Tuesday afternoon.

The baby girl was found later in her car seat on the porch of a home near Grande Prairie.

"It appears the infant is uninjured, but as a precaution she will be taken to a local area hospital for further examination," an RCMP news release said.

A tip led police to the stolen pickup truck at a forestry products mill south of the city about an hour later at 4:15 p.m.

After a foot chase overseen by a police helicopter, officers took three people into custody, RCMP said.

The truck had been left running outside a home when it was stolen around 1 p.m. MT.

Jodi McWilliams, who lives next door to the house where the truck was stolen, said it was driven by a woman who had stopped at the house to pick something up.

"Her vehicle was parked right at the end of the driveway and, like I said, it wasn't 20 feet to the front door of the house.

"She did not go inside. She met her right at the front door and it's –25 C here today, so instead of taking the baby out and everything else — she was just going to be a second picking something up from my neighbour — and by the time she turned around the truck was going down the road," McWilliams said.

The thief had jumped out of a vehicle and into the truck before anybody could react, she said.

The woman and some other neighbours got into vehicles and chased after the stolen truck, but weren't able to locate it, McWilliams said.